Michael Che To Anchor 'Update' On Saturday Night Live

After a brief stint on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, former Saturday Night Live writer and stand-up comic Michael Che will return to the NBC late-night show as co-host of Weekend Update. Breaking into the SNL hosting world as an original, Michael Che will be the show’s first black anchor after 39 years of Saturday Night funny stuff and will take a seat next to Colin Jost when the new season kicks off later this month.

Michael Che will be the new Weekend Update anchor for Saturday Night Live

He will replace Cecily Strong who served as co-anchor for two seasons, one with Seth Meyers, before he left to host NBC Late Night programme, and the second with Jost.

Strong had been juggling two roles - fake newscasts and appearing in the majority of skits - and rumours have suggested she wanted to focus on performing.

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Show creator and executive producer, Lorne Michaels, told The New York Times they had tried "a number of different combinations". But with Che it seems like they may have struck gold.

"Michael is a strong writer and he’s really funny," Michaels said. "It’s always difficult to make changes and make ‘Update’ different from what’s gone before. It struggled to find an identity last season because what had come before had been pretty brilliant."

Che will follow in the footsteps of some very notable predecessors in a gig that has been one of SNL crown jewels for a long time.

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Comical stars including Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers have lit up viewers Saturday screens in the past.

The 40th season of SNL is due to begin on September 27 with a host straight from outer space, Chris Pratt, and current pop music sensation Ariana Grande.